Toilet seat lifting and lowering device

ABSTRACT

A toilet seat lifting and lowering device for pivoting the seat to its raised position and for pivoting it back to its horizontal position without having to touch the seat. A first lever arm is rigidly attached at one end to a first part of a torque transfer mechanism and at its other end to a foot pedal and a second lever arm is rigidly attached at one end to a second part of the torque transfer mechanism and at its other end to the toilet seat. With the toilet seat in its horizontal position, a downward force on the pedal produces a rotation of the first part of the torque transfer mechanism which produces an opposite rotation of the second part of the torque transfer mechanism causing the toilet seat to pivot to its raised position. Lifting the pedal, preferably by providing an upward force under the pedal, lowers the seat to the horizontal position. In a preferred embodiment, a counterweight positionable on the first lever arm is provided to provide a constant torque to partially oppose the torque produced by the weight of the toilet seat about its pivot axis. In a preferred embodiment, the first and second parts of the torque transfer mechanism are both cams.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/187,252 filed Jul. 25, 2005, which is a continuation-in-partof Ser. No. 10/979,039 filed Nov. 2, 2004 (which issued as U.S. Pat. No.6,934,974 on Aug. 30, 2005). The present invention relates to toilets,and in particular, to toilet seat lifting and lowering devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 14 shows prior art toilet 200. Toilet seat 202 is pivotallyconnected to toilet 200. To use a toilet a female will usually sit onseat 202 to urinate and/or defecate. In contrast, a male will usuallylift seat 202 before urinating and sit on it only to defecate. Then, ifthe seat is raised, a female will need to lower it to either urinate ordefecate and a male will need to lower it to defecate.

Because of its proximity to human waste, the act of lifting the toiletseat can be potentially harmful. Bacteria and waste on and underneaththe seat can get onto the hands of the individual using the toilet. Toremedy this problem, there are some devices in the prior art designed toenable a user to lift the toilet seat without using his hands. However,these devices are complicated to make and expensive to produce andpurchase. Also, they are not commercially viable due to their poordesign, impracticality and lack of adhesion to plumbing codes.

What is needed is a better toilet seat lifting and lowering device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a toilet seat lifting and lowering devicefor pivoting the seat to its raised position and for pivoting it back toits horizontal position without having to touch the seat. A first leverarm is rigidly attached at one end to a first part of a torque transfermechanism and at its other end to a foot pedal and a second lever arm isrigidly attached at one end to a second part of the torque transfermechanism and at its other end to the toilet seat. With the toilet seatin its horizontal position, a downward force on the pedal produces arotation of the first part of the torque transfer mechanism whichproduces an opposite rotation of the second part of the torque transfermechanism causing the toilet seat to pivot to its raised position.Lifting the pedal, preferably by providing an upward force under thepedal, lowers the seat to the horizontal position. In a preferredembodiment, a counterweight positionable on the first lever arm isprovided to provide a constant torque to partially oppose the torqueproduced by the weight of the toilet seat about its pivot axis. In apreferred embodiment, the first and second parts of the torque transfermechanism are both cams.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-4 show a first preferred embodiment of the prior art.

FIG. 5 shows a preferred pedal.

FIGS. 6-9 show a second preferred embodiment of the prior art.

FIG. 10 shows another preferred pedal.

FIGS. 11-13 show a preferred gear and a gear follower.

FIGS. 14-15B show a prior art toilet.

FIGS. 16A-16B show a preferred method for installing the first preferredembodiment.

FIGS. 17-19 show a third preferred embodiment.

FIGS. 20-22 show a another preferred pedal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First PreferredEmbodiment

A first preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown inFIG. 1. The first preferred embodiment includes housing 101, adapterbracket 102, second lever arm 103 connected to a small gear 104 at afirst end. Second lever arm 103 is slidingly attached at its second endto seat 111 within attachment clip 112. Also the first preferredembodiment includes first lever arm 105 connected at one end to pedal108 and at the other end to large gear 106. Gears 104 and 106 form atorque transfer mechanism whereby torque applied at foot pedal 108 istransferred to toilet seat 111 through second lever arm 103 extendinginto housing 101 through lever entry holes 107.

First lever arm 105 extends away from housing 101 alongside toilet 100towards the floor, as in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. First lever arm 105preferably includes pedal 108 and adjustable counterweight 109 withscrew 110. As seen in FIG. 3, second lever arm slides within attachmentclip 112 attached to the underside of the toilet seat 111.

As seen in FIG. 4, seat 111 is raised by a user pressing his foot onpedal 108 and lowered by placing his foot under pedal 108 and liftingpedal 108 upwards. When a user presses down pedal 108 with his foot,first lever arm 105 rotates downward (counterclockwise as viewed in FIG.4) causing large gear 106 to rotate counterclockwise which in turncauses small gear 104 and second lever arm 103 to rotate clockwise. Theclockwise rotation of second lever arm 103 produces a clockwise rotationof seat 111. The upward force causes seat 111 to lift. Conversely,toilet seat 111 is lowered by the user placing his foot under pedal 108and lifting upward on pedal 108.

When seat 111 is raised, second lever arm 103 slides from one end ofattachment clip 112 to the other. As shown in FIG. 4, seat 111 is liftedwith only a small angular rotation of second lever arm 103.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first preferred embodiment includes thumb screw120. Thumb screw 120 passes from the outside into the interior ofhousing 101. As the user steps on pedal 108, gear 106 rotatescounterclockwise and gear 104 rotates clockwise (see also FIG. 4). Asgear 104 rotates clockwise stub 130 contacts screw 120. This causes therotation of second lever arm 103 to stop and prevents seat 111 fromhitting toilet tank 121 (FIGS. 2 and 3).

Counterweight

Counterweight 109 is preferably movable up and down the length of thefirst lever arm 105 between pedal 108 and the first lever arm angle 114.Once counterweight 109 has been appropriately positioned, its positionis secured by tightening screw 110. A function of counterweight 109 isto provide a torque countering the torque provided by the weight of thetoilet seat about the pivot position of the toilet seat. For example, ascounterweight 109 is moved closer to pedal 108, second lever arm 103exerts greater angular force on the underside of toilet seat 111. Apreferred position of counterweight 109 is the one at which the torqueproduced by counterweight 109 and large lever arm 105 almost (but notquite) balances the torque produced by the weight of toilet seat 111 sothat in the seat's lowered position only a small downward force on pedal108 is required to raise the seat to its full upward position.Therefore, as toilet seat 111 is lowered the force exerted by secondlever arm 103 and the extra weight provided by counterweight 109 helpslow the descent of seat 111 and therefore helps prevent toilet seat 111from being slammed onto the rim of the toilet.

Pedal

Pedal 108 is shaped to permit space 122 under the upper surface of thepedal to position the foot for lifting the pedal 108. The pedalpreferably possesses a multiplicity of holes 123 (FIG. 5) that permitthe insertion of first lever arm 105. A user can choose which of theholes to insert first lever arm 105. The distance above the floor pedal108 rests when toilet seat 111 is raised is thereby adjusted.

Preferred Method for Installing First Preferred Embodiment

FIGS. 14, 15A and 15B show prior art toilet 200. Prior art toilet 200includes lip 201, bolts 203, hinges 207 and seat 202.

The method for installing the first preferred embodiment is extremelysimple and can be accomplished very quickly and used on a variety oftoilet types, shapes and sizes. For example, FIGS. 16A-16B illustrate apreferred method for installing the first preferred embodiment.

Preferably, attachment clip 112 is first screwed into seat 202. Then,second lever arm 103 is positioned between attachment clip 112 and seat202. Then, pre-existing bolt 203 is used to bolt adapter bracket 102underneath lip 201.

The first preferred embodiment is now ready for in accordance withprocedures similar to that explained above.

Second Preferred Embodiment

The second preferred embodiment includes housing 301 (FIG. 6) and cams304 and 306. It should be noted that cams 304 and 306 have been modifiedfrom gears 104 and 106 shown in the first preferred embodiment. (Thereader should note that cams 304 and 306 may also correctly be referredto as single-toothed gears or cam gears. Although cams 304 and 306 areshaped differently than gears 104 and 106, cams 304 and 306 are similarto gears 104 and 106 in that they both have the similar function oftransferring rotational motion from first lever arm 105 to second leverarm 103.)

Housing

In addition to housing cams 304 and 306, housing 301 also is utilized toconnect seat 111 to toilet 100 (FIG. 7). Therefore, by utilization ofhousing 301, it is not necessary to include a separate adapter bracketsuch as adapter bracket 102 shown in the first preferred embodiment.Preferably, rubber gasket 279 is placed between housing 301 and toilet100 (FIG. 8).

Cams

The second preferred embodiment includes second lever arm 103 pinconnected to upper cam 304 and first lever arm 105 pin connected tolower cam 306. As shown in FIGS. 6, 9 and 11-13, cam 304 is preferablyin the general shape of a single-toothed gear having single tooth 304 aand cam 306 has a single groove 306 a to receive single tooth 304 a. Thecams of the second preferred embodiment replace gears 104 and 106 of thefirst preferred embodiment. Like gears 104 and 106, cams 304 and 306mesh with each other and enable first lever arm 105 to transferrotational motion to second lever arm 103. In contrast to gears 104 and106, cam 304 has one large single tooth and cam 306 has one large singlegroove. Hence, cams 304 and 306 are less likely to break or wear downafter extended usage. They are also less expensive to manufacture thangears. For example, it is estimated that from a manufacture/suppliercams 304 and 306 cost approximately $0.15 each. In comparison, gears 104and 106 cost approximately $4.00 each.

In the second preferred embodiment, first lever arm 105 extends awayfrom housing 301 alongside toilet 100 towards the floor, as shown inFIGS. 7 and 8. Pedal 126 with clutch/crane receptor 208 is attached tothe end of first lever arm 105. Second lever arm 103 is inserted intothe side of toilet seat 111 by means of attachment slot 312. Attachmentslot 312 replaces attachment clip 112 of the first preferred embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9, seat 111 is raised by pressing pedal 126 with thefoot. When a user presses pedal 126 with his foot, first lever arm 105rotates counterclockwise causing second lever arm 103 to rotateclockwise. The clockwise rotation of second lever arm 103 causes secondlever arm 103 to exert an upward force onto seat 111. The upward forcecauses seat 111 to lift. Conversely, toilet seat 111 is lowered by theuser placing his foot in pedal recess 122 (FIG. 10) and lifting upwardon pedal 126.

When seat 111 is lifted, second lever arm 103 slides from one end ofattachment slot 312 to the other allowing seat 111 to be lifted throughangle β with only a small angular rotation a of first lever arm 105.This angular rotation is shown in FIGS. 11-13.

As shown in FIGS. 9, and 11-13, thumb screw 125 passes from the outsideinto the interior of housing 101. Thumb screw 125 is used to control thestopping position of second lever arm 103 as seat 111 is raised. Bycontrolling the stopping position, seat 111 is prevented from hittingtoilet tank 121. Locking nut 125 b is utilized to help ensure that theposition of thumb screw 125 does not accidentally shift during usage.

Pedal

Pedal 126 preferably weights approximately 1.5 pounds. In addition tofunctioning as a place for the user to put his foot, the extra weight ofpedal 126 also allows the pedal to function as a counterweight. As withcounterweight 109 discussed in the first preferred embodiment,counterweighted pedal 126 helps slow the descent of seat 111 andtherefore helps prevent toilet seat 111 from being slammed onto the rimof the toilet.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, pedal 126 is shaped to include space 122 toposition the foot for lifting the pedal. As with the first preferredembodiment, pedal 126 possesses a multiplicity of holes 123 that permitthe insertion of first lever arm 105. The top of pedal 126 includes acrutch/cane receptacle 208 that will accommodate the tip of a crutch orcane, making it easier to depress the pedal for handicapped individuals.

Third Preferred Embodiment

A third preferred embodiment is shown in FIGS. 17-19. As in the firstpreferred embodiment, seat 202 is connected to toilet 210 via hinges 207and adapter bracket 102 is bolted to lip 201. However, in the thirdpreferred embodiment, it is not necessary to utilize an attachment clipor an attachment slot.

In FIG. 19, the user has stepped on pedal 108 and second lever arm 103has exerted an upward force on seat 202 in a fashion similar to thatdescribed above in reference to the earlier embodiments. Hinge 207allows seat 202 to easily pivot about the hinge between the positionshown in FIG. 18 and the position shown in FIG. 19. It should be notedthat in FIG. 19 seat 202 is not completely vertical, but rather isleaning slightly to the left.

To lower seat 202, the user places his foot under pedal 108 and liftsupward in a fashion similar to that described above in reference to theearlier embodiments. The force of gravity acting on seat 202 causes theseat to lower as second lever arm 103 goes to the position shown in FIG.18. Also, it should be noted that the third preferred embodiment alsopreferably includes a locknut similar to locknut 125 b (shown in FIGS.11-13) and also preferably includes a gasket similar to gasket 279(shown in FIG. 8).

Preferred Pedal

FIGS. 20-22 show preferred pedal 261. Preferred pedal 261 includesinterior weight 262. In one preferred embodiment weight 262 weightsapproximately 2 pounds. Pedal 261 can be connected to first lever arm105 via upper hole 263 or via lower hole 264. It is preferable toconnect pedal 261 to first lever arm 105 via upper hole 263 (FIG. 21)for a taller toilet (i.e., a 17-inch toilet) and it is preferable toconnect pedal 261 to first lever arm 105 via lower hole 264 (FIG. 22)for a shorter toilet (i.e., a 14-inch toilet). Pedal 261 also includesan extended vertical section 267 under horizontal portion 268. Verticalsection 267 allows the user additional room to place his foot whenlifting up on pedal 261 to lower the toilet seat.

Although the above-preferred embodiments have been described withspecificity, persons skilled in this art will recognize that manychanges to the specific embodiments disclosed above could be madewithout departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, theattached claims and their legal equivalents should determine the scopeof the invention.

1. A toilet seat lifting and lowering device for lifting and lowering atoilet seat pivotally connected to a toilet, comprising: A. a footpedal, B. a torque transfer mechanism comprising a first part and asecond part, C. a first lever arm rigidly attached at one end to saidfirst part of said torque transfer mechanism and at another end to saidfoot pedal, D. a second lever arm rigidly attached at one end to saidsecond part of said torque transfer mechanism and at another end to saidtoilet seat, wherein with said toilet seat in its horizontal position adownward force on said foot pedal produces a rotation of said first partof said torque transfer mechanism which produces an opposite rotation ofsaid second part of said torque transfer mechanism causing said toiletseat to pivot to its raised position and wherein with said toilet seatin its raised position a upward force applied under said foot pedalproduces a rotation of said first part of said torque transfer mechanismwhich produces an opposite rotation of said second part of said torquetransfer mechanism causing said toilet seat to pivot to its horizontalposition.
 2. The toilet seat lifting and lowering device as in claim 1,wherein said first part of said torque transfer mechanism is a firstgear and wherein said second part of said torque transfer mechanism is asecond gear, wherein said first gear is physically engaged with saidsecond gear.
 3. The toilet seat lifting and lowering device as in claim2, wherein either said first gear or said second gear comprises a singletooth and the other of said first gear or said second gear comprises asingle groove to receive said single tooth.
 4. The toilet seat liftingand lowering device as in claim 1, wherein said first part of saidtorque transfer mechanism is a first cam and wherein said second part ofsaid torque transfer mechanism is a second cam, wherein said first camis physically engaged with said second cam.
 5. The toilet seat liftingand lowering device as in claim 4, wherein either said first cam or saidsecond cam comprises a single tooth and the other of said first cam orsaid second cam comprises a single groove to receive said single tooth.6. The toilet seat lifting and lowering device t as in claim 1, furthercomprising a counterweight attached to said first lever arm.
 7. Thetoilet seat lifting and lowering device as in claim 6, wherein saidcounterweight is slidingly attached to said first lever arm.
 8. Thetoilet seat lifting and lowering device as in claim 1, furthercomprising a housing unit attached to said toilet, said housing unit isfor housing said first lever arm, said second lever arm, and said torquetransfer mechanism.
 9. The toilet seat lifting device as in claim 1,wherein said toilet comprises a lip, wherein said first lever arm, saidsecond lever arm, and said torque transfer mechanism are rigidlyattached to said lip.
 10. The toilet seat lifting and lowering device asin claim 1, further comprising an attachment clip for receiving saidsecond lever arm.
 11. The toilet seat lifting and lowering device as inclaim 1, further comprising an attachment slot for receiving said secondlever arm.
 12. The toilet seat lifting and lowering device as in claim 8further comprising an adapter bracket for connecting said housing unitto said toilet.
 13. The toilet seat lifting and lowering device as inclaim 1, wherein said foot pedal comprises a crutch/crane receptacle.14. The toilet seat lifting and lowering device as in claim 1, whereinsaid toilet seat is pulled downward to said horizontal position by saidsecond lever arm.
 15. The toilet seat lifting and lowering device as inclaim 1, wherein said toilet seat is pushed downward to said horizontalposition by the force of gravity.
 16. The toilet seat lifting andlowering device of claim 2, wherein said first gear comprises first gearteeth and said second gear comprises second gear teeth, wherein saidfirst gear teeth meshes with said second gear teeth.
 17. The toilet seatlifting and lowering device as in claim 5, wherein said single toothmeshes with said single groove.
 18. A toilet seat lifting and loweringdevice lifting device for lifting a toilet seat pivotally connected to atoilet, comprising: A. a first lever arm means comprising a first leverarm first end and a first lever arm second end, B. a first means fortransferring rotational motion connected to said first lever arm firstend, C. a second means for transferring rotational motion physicallyengaged with said first means for transferring rotational motion, and D.a second lever arm means connected to said second means for transferringrotational motion at a second lever arm first end, said second lever armmeans in contact with said toilet seat at a second lever arm second end,wherein applying force to said first lever arm at said first lever armsecond end causes said second lever arm second end to apply force tosaid pivotally connected toilet seat to raise said pivotally connectedtoilet seat.
 19. A method for lifting a pivotally connected toilet seat,comprising the steps of: A. attaching a toilet seat lifting device to atoilet, said toilet seat lifting device comprising:
 1. a first lever armmeans comprising a first lever arm first end and a first lever armsecond end,
 2. a first means for transferring rotational motionconnected to said first lever arm first end,
 3. a second means fortransferring rotational motion physically engaged with said first meansfor transferring rotational motion, and
 4. a second lever arm meansconnected to said second means for transferring rotational motion at asecond lever arm first end, said second lever arm means in contact withsaid toilet seat at a second lever arm second end, B. applying force tosaid first lever arm at said first lever arm second end causing saidsecond lever arm second end to apply force to said pivotally connectedtoilet seat to raise said pivotally connected toilet seat.
 20. A toiletseat lifting and lowering device for lifting and lowering a toilet seatpivotally connected to a toilet, comprising: A. a first lever armcomprising a first lever arm first end and a first lever arm second end,B. a first lever arm gear connected to said first lever arm first end,C. a second lever arm gear physically engaged with said first lever armgear, and D. a second lever arm connected to said second lever arm gearat a second lever arm first end, said second lever arm in contact withsaid toilet seat at a second lever arm second end, wherein applyingforce to said first lever arm at said first lever arm second end causessaid second lever arm second end to apply force to said pivotallyconnected toilet seat to raise said pivotally connected toilet seat.